Har Mar Superstar: What the hell is this guy?

Oh yeah, that's right, I was living in the Midwest at the time and there was NOTHING ELSE TO DO.

Anyway, Har Mar didn't impress me, either with his shtick (pasty, balding Ron Jeremy lookalike strips down to his skivvies and does crotch-thrust Jazzercise) or his music (sequencer lounge-lite). I couldn't even enjoy it on an ironic level. Does anyone have any clue why he's gotten so popular?

I actually prefer "Ar Mar" because then it sounds like he's a pirate. Arrrrrrr. It'd be way cooler if he dressed up as a pirate for his shows, I think.

(Oh, there's a Bloomington in Minnesota, too.)

m.

he's extraordinarily talented and charismatic, but I'm bummed that his "look at me! I'm a heavyset indie rock star but I made an album of R. Kelly songs!" phase has now drowned out the other mode.

I wish him all the success in the world, but I think the joke'll get old fast..

Cool thing about that show was that it really was PUBLIC and not one of the bars where the scenesters are all in on the joke. There was a strong hipster contingent at the front, but also plenty of people who hated it, baffled farm kids & parents, and a few teenage black girls who tried to get into his grooves, giggled through about 4 songs, and then got sick of it and bailed.

However, he does have the balls to do his thing wherever, whenever, no matter what, as shown here.

Also, his name's a local joke. There's a Har Mar Mall (StPaul?) with a Har Mar Superstore in it. Ha ha.

Cool thing about that show was that it really was PUBLIC and not one of the bars where the scenesters are all in on the joke. There was a strong hipster contingent at the front, but also plenty of people who hated it, baffled farm kids & parents, and a few teenage black girls who tried to get into his grooves, giggled through about 4 songs, and then got sick of it and bailed.

However, he does have the balls to do his thing wherever, whenever, no matter what, as shown here.

Also, his name's a local joke. There's a Har Mar Mall (StPaul?) with a Har Mar Superstore in it. Ha ha.

and then again... i suppose your right... it's like andy kaufman, the joke is only funny to a certain segment... and then only for a certain amount of time...

m.

http://www.citypages.com/databank/21/1017/article8708.asp
http://www.citypages.com/databank/23/1144/article10848.asp

Is he for real? I'm starting to think this may be some kind of running joke.

I hope so, anyway.

Best revelation: the disc is "pure merchandise"

seriously... like the fucking champs are sincere about their metal, what's so hard to believe that tillman can't love the r&b and still sell himself?

i've seen sean na na bust out with a nelly cover at the end of his set... he can do it justice. and he dug it. and members of the crowd dug it.

so what if he's challenging the typical r&b beauty pose?

some may think he's funny, but i think others might actually find him authentic.... and that's something the majors are hurdling to get lately. (see: avril)

m.

more like see Har Mar open for Kelly Osbourne.

but it's like "is he serious?" "oh, he's rubbing his fat" "the songs are ok, i guess" "now he's got dirty underwear on" "is he serious?" "oh, he's making sex faces at that girl" "oh, he's rubbing his sweat over his fat" "oh, he is serious" ... you just get tired of it... and then realize you don't care.

Ugh, how I loathe him.

September 13th at the soon to be RIP Uptown Bar in Mpls, Har Mar's old Am Rep band Calvin Crime will be doing a short reunion set after his headlining set..

back before he was friends with the chick from Juno and kelly osbourne, doing a pretty damn good job of being the teen punk version of Hammerhead

http://www.myspace.com/calvinkrime

fixed the title out of uh hometown pride?

some sean na na was cool, and i think i liked calvin crime at points. the har mar thing is bluaggghhh tho at this point

hahaha did I ever mention that his sister and brother-in-law live out in Boston and are successful classical singers? I was in a show with his bro-in-law a couple of years ago and he is a k-awesome dude.

wait the uptown is closing??

he used to be sean tillman (middle)

http://beautifulnoise.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/37039_lg.jpg

wait the uptown is closing??

― crabRCISE (gbx), Tuesday, September 1, 2009 7:26 PM (28 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

sadly yes, will be torn down and made into real. and the last nail in the coffin of whatever people thought "uptown" was i guess....

what in the hell

one more reason to hate this neighborhood

yeah so lame :(

http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2009/08/uptown_bar_one.php

i wonder if britt daniels ever looks back at the "i don't dig the [white] stripes but i go for har mar" line from "small stakes" and realizes he took the wrong side on that

nah, probably not

aw man. everyone i know has at least one Uptown glass in their house.

When he was popular for about 10 mins in 2003 I saw him open for someone (forget who) in London. I was pretty drunk at that show and accosted him in the bar and was like omg you're from Minneapolis my old roommate is from Minneapolis! The funny thing was that he actually knew and was friends with her.

in defense of Har Mar...the schtick has become pretty intolerable, but i have to say, back when he first started doing it as this weird art prank thing, seeing him bump and grind on uncomfortable college dudes and do pushups in his underwear while playing for 50 art rock dudes when he was opening for Trans Am of all ppl was pretty funny in a Andy Kaufman kinda way

I saw Har Mar open for someone in London in 2003 as well. I think it was the Raveonettes?

OK it was the Raveonettes but it was 2004.

Was it at the Astoria? That's where this was but it definitely wasn't the Raveonettes because I've never seen them. Hmmmmm.

Yeah it was at the Astoria

lol you totally saw The Raveonettes

Did not!! I just remembered that it was Hot Hot Heat (which isn't any better) and def 2003 as we were still living in Wanstead and it took ages to get home that night.

Hot Hot Heat is the code name the Ravonettes use when they are doing a covert tour

in defense of Har Mar...the schtick has become pretty intolerable, but i have to say, back when he first started doing it as this weird art prank thing, seeing him bump and grind on uncomfortable college dudes and do pushups in his underwear while playing for 50 art rock dudes when he was opening for Trans Am of all ppl was pretty funny in a Andy Kaufman kinda way

― i'm beasting off the riesling (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, September 2, 2009 11:51 AM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark

i have never seen har mar, but i can totally buy this.

and the last nail in the coffin of whatever people thought "uptown" was i guess....

I practically can't remember the last time I spent any significant amount of time in Uptown that wasn't connected to seeing a movie at the Lagoon.

when he was opening for Trans Am of all ppl

^^ damn son i was at that show!! 400 bar right?

i'm not that sad about the uptown tbh

Saw him not too long ago at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts after Crystal Antlers played. It was the second time I'd seen him; the first was at the Elbow Room in Ypsilanti, a claustrophobic dive if there ever was one. It was one of those shows that had me spending more time thinking about the intervening six or so years than the music, like I'd caught Baby Boomer Disease and could now only think of shows in the context of how I used to feel about them. Then I realized his schtick was exactly the same and that once I was just a hipster douchebag with a starter beard writing for some forgettable rag. It was my own fault that I spent the show alone, mumbling about paying $3 for a can of Tecate and being alternately confused and annoyed by the video show.

I WAS THERE

Anyway, he's playing the FYFest too, but hopefully someone on one of the other stages will be good.

well... sean tillman's a nice guy and way more dedicated than a lot of the folks out there. he's got a hell of a lot more talent than a lot of these polished idiots so frequently promoted by the majors. i think the thing i like most about tillman is that he's not a buff factory model with his baldness and gut, but he still acts like he's every bit as cool. in my book, that gives him way more character than most of the current line up of music superstars

This pretty much OTM

I saw him when we were visiting Minneapolis and it was a really fun show. Absolutely crazy atmosphere, strangers making out all over the place, everyone dancing and shoving each other, etc. etc. I would think outside of MN (and LA) he probably doesn't do so well. But he is a good songwriter (some of the time) and has a good voice (most of the time). His new album is pretty good if you're into poppy R&B. What I don't like is that he kind of blantantly rips off MJ; I mean "DUI" is basically "I Want You Back" at its core, hell he even strains his voice to get it super high. But some of his songs are classic - at the parties I go to we play "EZ Pass" a lot and it kills.

still kinda miss the uptown, p much the only decent bar within walking distance

i miss the bloody marys at the uptown

possibly the worst thing the 00s produced

c'mon whiney you got a free glass

hahahahahaha

hahahaha A+

http://www.fungusboy.net/calvin-krime-4.jpg

new song is kinda cool actually

http://www.cultrecords.com/splash/harmar-byebye17/

this whole album is pretty neat - it's not like a 60's soul imitation with modern drum machines or whatever, it's just full-on 60's soul, even down to the tape hiss. lyrics are toned down a notch too. not bad!

Snakes? On a Plane??

Man, I just realized that I've been to fewer than 20 shows in the last 15 years and this was one of them.

He did an advert over here, I forget what it was for...

vodka?

Think that's the one...

I think Har Mar sometimes looks like Lena Dunham. Which I don't mean as an insult to either (I think Lena Dunham is really pretty!)

This track was on All Things Considered the other day. Song rules.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouuqJ0pkWvU

jesus this thing has actually been going on for 10 fucking years good god

To answer the initial question -- He's the hell the new guitarist in the Replacements and yes my brain hurts.

gross.